Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced earlier today that a federal jury found HOWARD ADELGLASS guilty for his participation in a conspiracy to illegally prescribe oxycodone. The defendant was found guilty following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff. Sentencing is scheduled for March 8, 2023, before Judge Rakoff.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Doctor Howard Adelglass was a drug dealer, but instead of peddling drugs on the street corner, he distributed drugs with a prescription pad from his Central Park South ‘pain-management clinic.’ For years, the defendant prescribed enormous quantities of highly addictive and deadly opioids to people he knew were suffering from substance abuse disorders or were dealers. By distributing mammoth quantities of oxycodone pills to people without a legitimate medical purpose, the defendant destroyed lives and families. Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold accountable those responsible for fueling the opioid crisis that is ravaging our community and nation.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, the evidence offered at trial, and matters included in public filings:
HOWARD ADELGLASS was a licensed physician. Together with Marcello Sansone, the defendant operated a pain-management clinic located in Midtown Manhattan (the “Clinic”). The Clinic serviced purported patients seeking oxycodone and other pain-relief medications commonly diverted for illicit purposes. In exchange for cash payments, and in some instances for cocaine, ADELGLASS wrote thousands of prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone, and many he wrote to individuals whom ADELGLASS knew did not need the pills for a legitimate medical purpose. When they occurred, ADELGLASS’s examinations were perfunctory. The defendant’s purported patients included individuals addicted to opioids and, in some cases, who sold oxycodone on the street. Even when faced with clear evidence of his purported patients’ drug abuse and diversion, ADELGLASS continued to prescribe large quantities of oxycodone to them.
Initially, ADELGLASS staffed the Clinic with inexperienced young women, some of whom he addicted to oxycodone. In approximately October 2018, after serving as a primary source of patient referrals, Sansone took over as the Clinic’s office manager. In that role, Sansone helped to control access to ADELGLASS and the lucrative prescriptions he wrote for medically unnecessary oxycodone. With particularly vulnerable patients, the defendants solicited and, in some instances, received sex acts in exchange for oxycodone prescriptions.
Between in or about November 2017 and in or about September 2020, ADELGLASS prescribed more than 1.3 million oxycodone pills.
On October 13, 2022, Sansone pled guilty to conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone. Sansone is scheduled to be sentenced on February 13, 2023, before Judge Rakoff.
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ADELGLASS, 67, of New York, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo, Marguerite B. Colson, and Daniel G. Nessim are in charge of the prosecution.